Mitigation

​Through the planning,
environmental and entitlement processes, a lead agency may adopt mitigation measures or conditions of approval to reduce a project’s air emissions. Specific guidance on construction and operational mitigation is provided on this page. Consult the Sac Metro Air District Guide to Air Quality Assessment in Sacramento County for more details.

​Construction Emissions Mitigation

Additionally, projects with construction mitigation requirements must reduce emissions from off-road equipment. Some projects may be required to reduce emissions from on-road haul trucks and pay a mitigation fee.

​Off-Road Emissions

​Enhanced Exhaust Control Practices are the standard off-road equipment mitigation recommend by the Sac Metro Air District for on-site emissions. When on-site mitigation does not reduce emissions below the Sac Metro Air District thresholds a mitigation fee may be included.

Contractors required to implement the Enhanced Exhaust Control Practices should take the following steps to ensure compliance.

​1

Input project and equipment fleet information in the Construction Mitigation Tool (May 2018). This is a .zip file. Please save it and then open it to extract the .xlsm file.

All owned, rental and subcontractor equipment should be included. The Tool will calculate emissions and provide the information to determine compliance.

​2

Input haul truck information, if applicable to the project, in the Construction Mitigation Tool spreadsheet, section B of the Input_Data tab.

​Submit the completed Construction Mitigation Tool spreadsheet via email to Sac Metro Air District staff Karen Huss and Rachel DuBose (khuss@airquality.org and rdubose@airquality.org) at least 4 business days prior to work beginning.

Please provide the project name in the email subject line.

​5

​Sac Metro Air District staff evaluate the submittal and provide a confirmation letter to the contractor and lead agency when compliance with the mitigation is determined. The confirmation letter allows work to proceed.

Mitigation Fees

​When a project cannot fully mitigate construction emissions by implementing off-road and on-road measures, a fee may be assessed to acheive the remaining mitigation. Fees are adopted by the lead agency.

Currently the mitigation fee rate is $30,000 per ton of emissions (July 2017, no change in 2018). Each July the rate is adjusted. A 5% administrative fee is assessed in addition to the mitigation fee.

​Operational Emissions Mitigation

​Projects that exceed the Sac Metro Air District operational emissions thresholds must mitigate the impacts using all feasible measures. Sac Metro Air District staff recommends an operational Air Quality Mitigation Plan (AQMP) be developed, which describes how emissions from the project will be reduced. The level of reductions needed for a project is determined in consultation with the lead agency and Sac Metro Air District staff.

​Greenhouse Gases

​Lead agencies also require mitigaton for project greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that are determined to be significant. Ideally a project will implement measures from the lead agency's Climate Action Plan (CAP) or Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan (GHGRP) to mitigate GHG. If no CAP or GHGRP exists, the lead agency may require a project specific GHGRP.

​Operational Mitigation Guidance

​The Recommended Guidance for Land Use Emission Reductions(Guidance) provides a description of the most current feasible mitigation measures and corresponding emission reduction potential. Project proponents should use the Guidance along with the California Emissions Estimator Model (CalEEMod) to create AQMPs and GHGRPs.

In general, the Guidance in effect at the time the Notice of Preparation was issued for a project should be used. All versions of the Guidance are included in the table below.

NEW: Starting January 1, 2018, Sac Metro Air District staff recommend using Version 4.0 of the Guidance.

Sac Metro Air District staff is committed to working with project proponents and lead agencies to develop AQMPs and GHGRPs. Lead agencies typically require plans to be reviewed and adequacy confirmed by the Sac Metro Air District prior to project approval. To facilitate this, project proponents should submit draft plans for review early in the development process.